Mr. Gary G. Miller of
California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and
Labor

A BILL

To prohibit the receipt of Federal funds by any
institution of higher education with a football team that participates in the
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, unless the national championship
game of such Subdivision is the culmination of a playoff
system.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the
Championship Fairness Act of
2009.

2.

Prohibition

(a)

Prohibition

An institution of higher education shall
not be eligible to receive any Federal funds for any fiscal year during which
the institution has a football team that participates in the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision,
unless the national championship game of such Subdivision is the culmination of
a playoff system.

(b)

Definitions

In this Act:

(1)

Institution of
higher education

The term
institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in
section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).

(2)

Playoff
system

The term playoff system means a system by
which the national championship game of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl
Subdivision is the final game of a single elimination post-season playoff
system for which all NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and
unaffiliated NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams are
eligible.

3.

Rules of
construction

(a)

Other sports not
affected

Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to affect the post-season playoff system of any sport,
division, subdivision, or athletic program other than the NCAA Division I
Football Bowl Subdivision.

(b)

Bowl games
permitted

Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to prevent—

(1)

a
playoff system that incorporates the post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl
Subdivision bowl games established before the date of the enactment of this
Act, including names, sponsorships, and locations for such bowl games;
or

(2)

bowl games carried out independent of the
playoff system required by this Act, including bowl games established before,
on, and after the date of the enactment of this Act.

4.

Effective
date

The prohibition in
section 2(a) shall apply to any institution of
higher education with a football team participating in an NCAA Division I
Football Bowl Subdivision game on or after the date that is 3 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act.